Supermarkets see highest turnover for card payments

Supermarkets have seen the highest turnover this year in terms of payments by credit or debit cards, according to data from JCC, the plastic card joint venture run by the commercial banks.
Supermarkets saw volumes increase by 18.59% year to date, while clothing and other retailers also saw turnover up by 13% and 12% respectively.
Enterprises included in the bottom of the list were those which depend on the flagging tourism sector.
Turnover in the car hire sector rose by 1.66%, food and drink 0.9% and travel by only 0.02%.

Cyprus local credit card use up 18% in Jan-November

Meanwhile Local plastic card use by Cyprus residents rose by 18% in value compared with the same period of the previous year in January-November, according to JCC.
This increase was slightly lower than the 20% recorded in January-September 2008. According to JCC, total purchases using Cyprus-issued cards reached EUR 1.69 bln in the first 11 months of the year.
Expenditure by Cyprus residents abroad rose in the same period by 27% to EUR 887.6 mln. Meanwhile, expenditure by foreigners in Cyprus contracted, reaching EUR 469.0 mln in January-November, having stagnated in the January-September period.

Fiona Mullen
www.sapientaeconomics.com